Simple Day at the J [shiratorijun]

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Jun spent the dawn terrifying the operative who'd been spying on her in the night. She'd dropped trash, passed close enough brush his shoulders, and fiddled with sound. He'd been thoroughly spooked by the time she'd finished harassing him.

Work was far less entertaining but she managed to get a good deal done. She'd put the packets she'd put together for Arisa, whatever her last name was, on the corner of her desk. She hummed while she saw to her business.

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Shortly after noon Arisa arrived off the bus, dropping down off the last step onto the sidewalk, glancing around her as the beast pulled away with a puff of exhaust. The last time she'd been in this area, it was night, and light of course made the surroundings look just a little different than they had before.

But the J was easy enough to find -- appropriately marked. The young woman pulled open the door, stepping through into the J itself in search of Jun.

The last of the lunch diners had been let out and the floor and tables had been washed. A lone woman, fine-boned, of less than average stature, with limp, coarse hair and startlingly black, if tired, eyes was tapping a young man on the chest with her clip pad.

The woman and man noted Arisa's entrance.

"Can I help you?" said the woman.

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"I'm looking for Jun-san . . . could you tell me where I'd find her, please?" Arisa kept her tone carefully polite, correct, recalling the manners she kept in there somewhere. "She's expecting me."

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"Oh, yeah," the woman bowed. "She's in her office. You've got an appointment, right? I'll take you right there."

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A smile and a bow in return. "Great, thanks." Arisa paused, letting the woman lead the way.

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Jun hung up the receiver and made a notation in her ledger when she heard a rap on the door. She looked up from her neat figures to her even neater desk. Flicked an imaginary track of dust from the blotter, turned the blue and gold painted vase on the desk so the flowers Derek had given her were turned towards the door and said, "Come in!"

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A quiet click of the door, and there she was in the midst of the Swan's territory. But this was business, and Arisa quickly pushed the rebellious thought aside. "Afternoon. Thanks for taking the trouble."

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"It was some trouble," Jun said. She shrugged. "But it's not like you chose to come to this world, anyway. It should be okay...whichever identity or career you choose. I hope...well, I hope everything works out for the best."

She reached for the two manilla packets and stood, handing them to Arisa. Two different identities. One for Mumbai and another for Pyong-hang. Both cities are milled with Utoland expats. I hope that corresponds with your Japan."

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"Mm, mostly." Arisa slid the pages from the envelope, eyes flicking over the contents. "Mumbai more than Pyong-hang; the Koreans got a little restless once they discovered nuclear, and Utoland doesn't feel entirely comfortable having their people in that situation. Unofficial distrust." She flipped over a page, speaking half to Jun, half to herself. "Mumbai may be the one I use first; I've actually been there. I'm also not too bad with Bengali; we'll see if that helps anything."

Her head rose at last. "Looks like it's in good order. Anything else I should know?"

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Jun's eyes narrowed. She sat. "Of course it's in good order, Arisa. I'm a professional. The last thing I want, is for my contribution to your and my safety, is garbage. If there's anything else you should know is that I did my best for you, in terms of establishing a primary identity and a bolthole. You should know that I gave you great job leads. Not garbage. I wouldn't treat a friend of a friend badly. I want you to know that you can take that for granted."

Jun is not being friendly when she says this but she tries to take disdain from her voice. She is quite tired of this young lady, who complains about her to her husband; who seems prickly, defensive and flatly rude. She's Ken's friend. That does mean a good deal. Ken doesn't have enough friends and neither does she.

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Honestly? Arisa wasn't really in the mood for mind games; her voice when she replied was quick, clipped, and polite. "That's interesting, Shiratori-san. I thanked you; I told you that the work looked good, that I appreciated your effort on my behalf. Apparently you'd prefer to think that I'm reaching forward to smack you in the face somehow instead. I came over here in goodwill; *I* wasn't trying to say anything to set you off. If you have your mind already set against me for some reason . . . I'm sorry; that's going to have to be your problem, not mine. I'm not sure what the problem *is*, but if we have some sort of alien force bearing down on us as you think, I plan to do a damn good job of my part. I'm not going anywhere."

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Jun laughed.

"You're pretty good at that." she said. "I don't prefer to think it but it seems to me that you've got a problem with me." She smiled. "Weren't you the one who wished me well in regards to my nobility?" Her teeth shone. "What was that about?"

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"It was called being irritated at the time. I suspect you're acquainted with it."

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"Curiousity would be a better word for it," Jun replied. "Well, I'll accept your apology as such. If you ever find it worth your time to enlighten me as to how I could help us get along better without the, um, almost charming childishness? Please let me know. If it's not too much trouble that is. I would suggest that your irritation with me is something to be settled between the both of us. I wouldn't exactly consider it a favor if you left my husband out of it, but maybe you know something I don't."

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"I never asked your husband in in the first place." Anger flickered behind Arisa's eyes, but remained contained. "I wouldn't know. We can stand here uttering semi-polite nothings to one another, or we can start over and move on. Who knows? You might even find me an intelligent life form."

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"Probably. I trust Ken implicitly, but it'd be nice to go on something other than my good opinion of him."

Jun's smile crinkled the skin around her eyes.

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"Well, I don't kiss up -- and I don't expect you to kiss up to me." Arisa spread out her hands. "This is me. Takahashi Arisa. Nice to meet you?"

No, the tone was not defensive . . . more somewhere between factual and bemused.

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"Not really. You've got a real problem with me -- And you're dishonest as Galactor intelligence about it. I don't know if it's jealousy, resentment or what have you. But sometimes you're careful and sometimes you're not. You may not kiss up, but you sure as Galactor had to threaten entire villages with death to cut down on desertion you burn with something. And if it's not against me it's got something to do with another me. Or maybe you're mad because--" some Eagles mate for life "--of your own dreams."

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A lean smile. "You don't desert Galactor. You hope to whatever gods you believe in you can get shot. I'm sorry; I was attempting to be pleasant . . . didn't realize I was coming in for my psychological evaluation. Please, evaluate me all you like, then, Swan; you'll never see me if I can help it."

"Should I assume, then, that you've chosen the first option I gave?"

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"Are you serious about attempting to be pleasant? I honestly can't tell with you... I don't think moving forward would work for me. I want to know what you have against me, or are irritated about in regards to me. How have I given you offense? Have I given you offense or do you have an attitude problem?"

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"Coincidence . . . I can't tell with you either." There was a note of genuine frustration mingled with the wry humor in Arisa's voice, even a little despair; she reached up with both hands, combed back her hair between her fingers, pressed hard against her scalp for a moment, trying to formulate her words. "Yes, I meant trying to be pleasant. I came hoping to find some way to get along . . . maybe I was crazy, but I heard some indication in your notes that it would be possible. I don't *want* to have to hate anyone."

"I respond to what I hear from you. I'm a wry-humored person. I'm informal, I'm direct, I speak my mind. I hear your politeness and feel like you're putting up a wall for me to crash into, as though *you* had a grudge against me. I've tried making jokes, I've tried being polite in return, I've tried everything I know how to do that doesn't involve me not being . . . me. I don't know where we're missing the boat, but we are, both of us."

"Yeah, I was bothered when you came to Ken's. I was uncertain what your intentions were, and Ken was so upset lately; I just didn't want him to be more so. You can understand that, can't you? The need to protect someone you care about? Again, I didn't know you. The Swan of my world is dead. I didn't know her; I just shot her."

"I . . . just have absolutely no idea what you're expecting of me. Apparently you've been convinced that I'm stupid and a child. I don't understand . . . So tell me in turn, without accusing me of having an attitude problem . . . what do you expect from me? What are you wanting? I've honestly . . . tried."

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Continued here.

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I just shot her.

The Swan of my world is dead. I just shot her.

"I don't think so." Jun said. "I don't want anything more from you other than what I've already learned. Though it's an important lesson to learn."

Her expression hardened. "I don't need your help," she almost snarled. "And I'm not fool enough to want your friendship. I offered aid because you came here a stranger, a friend of a friend. I was willing to accept it, because it's true that my world is in need. I thought you -- some volunteer Galactor - had a hell of a lot of nerve to presume to protect Ken from me. I thought that was about the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. That only a fool would meddle in the affairs of Swans and Eagles. But you're no fool. Maybe a Swankiller is just the sort of woman an Eagle needs to look out for his best interests."

She stood.

"Is there anything else you'd like to take from me while you're here?"

It was a knife sliding in between the ribs, slicing through meat and bone. Arisa's eyes went suddenly dark, silent. Dead.

"I didn't kill her." The words were barely audible. Her hand lifted, paused, then silently deposited the folders back on the desk. "No. Nothing else. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

And she was gone.

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Jun sat bonelessly. Like a puppet who's strings had been cut. She covered her face with her hands, struggling to master herself. Too much fear, too much rage. It made her tremble.

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December